THODUPUZHA:
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will commission the high-tech plant of Kerala Feeds Ltd (KFL) at Arikkuzha near here on January 5, which will considerably augment the production capacity of the state-run livestock feed manufacturer to meet the increasing demand for dairy and poultry feeds at affordable prices.
On the occasion, KFL will also launch its new KF Kairali and KF Athulyam brands of layer feed for egg-laying chicken and the highly nutritious KF Dairy Rich feed for milch cows. K Raju, Minister for Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development, will preside over the function and launch the products, scheduled at 4 pm.
“The 500-tonne capacity plant, set up at a cost of Rs 75.75 crore, comes under the Idukki Package, taking into account the finding of the M S Swaminathan Commission Report that the hill district has the capability to meet the state’s entire demand of milk,” KFL Chairman K S Indusekharan Nair, said at a press conference here today.
With the commissioning of the plant, which incorporates state of the art Swiss machinery, the total production capacity of KFL will rise to 1750 tonne, which will cater to the exclusive needs of nutritious cattle feed for Idukki and neighboring districts,Nair said.
The plant has been set up at the 10-acre land leased out by the state government out of Arikkuzha Agricultural Farm based on the recommendations of the M S Swaminathan Commission report, said Dr B Sreekumar, Managing Director, KFL.
The foundation stone for the plant was laid in 2014. Construction of 1350 sq metres finished products godown and 3300 sq metres raw material godown has been completed. The plant will start trial production this month itself.
The state government has provided Rs 17.01 core for setting up the plant. The project has received Rs 23.25 crore from Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna and a loan of Rs 20 crore from NABARD. Two silos of 1400 cubic metre for exclusively storing seasonally available raw materials, and six other silos of 700 cubic metres each have also been set up.
The work of the 39-metre field tower needed for production based on MMCP—Milling, Mixing, Cooking and Pelleting—technology has been completed. Machinery such as batch mixer, hammer mill, molasses mixer, pellet mill and pellet colour have been imported and installed. The computerised motor control unit to steer the field mill has also been set up. The plant has obtained the clearance for setting up a two-tonne wood fuel boiler. The calibration work of 2500- tonne molasses tank is also over.
The plant has two weighing bridges of 50 and 30 tonne each, rain harvesting facilities, administrative building, canteen, wash rooms, common amenities for workers, approach roads, drainage and compound wall. As many as eight clearances from the competent authorities for setting up the plant have been obtained. The trial run will start by this month end on getting the energisation clearance from KSEB.
KFL Deputy Manager Francis PP, Projects Manager Sudheer NG and Quality Control Assistant Manager Dr Anuraj K S also attended the press meet.
K F Dairy Rich
This feed is mainly meant for hybrid cows. This healthy feed will address issues arising from malnutrition, under production of milk and problems relating to reproduction. This is especially good for lactating cows. The cow will get a balanced diet out of this feed including bypass protein and minerals, which are essential for robust health of the animal and increasing the milk output. This brand occupies the top rung of KFL’s wide range of products.
KF Kairali, K F Athulyam
These two brands mainly target farmers that rear egg-laying chicken in open environs. Birds reared in open often fails to get sufficient nutrients from traditional feeds like food grains or left -over food and morsels. Since there is a serious shortage of layer feed in the market, these two brands will meet the demand for that. Both the brands are priced affordably and will be available in 10 and 20 Kg bags.
